The Reformed Political Party (Dutch: Staatkundig Gereformeerde Partij, SGP) is an orthodox Protestant Calvinist[8]political party in the Netherlands. The term Reformed is not a reference to political reform, but is a synonym for Calvinism. The SGP is the oldest political party in the Netherlands in its current form, and has for its entire existence been in opposition. The party has, owing to its orthodox political ideals and its refusal to cooperate in any cabinet, been called a testimonial party.

In the 1922 election the party entered Parliament. In this period the SGP became most noted for proposing to abolish the Dutch representation at the Holy See during each annual parliamentary debate on the budget of the ministry of foreign affairs. Each year the Protestant Christian Historical Union (CHU) voted in favour. The CHU was in cabinet with the Catholic General League, but many of its members and supporters still had strong feelings against the Catholic Church. In 1925 the left-wing opposition composed of the Free-thinking Democratic League and Social Democratic Workers’ Party voted in favour of the motion. They were indifferent to the representation at the Holy See, but saw this as a possibility to divide the confessional cabinet. And indeed the cabinet fell over this issue, in what is known as the Nacht van Kersten (Night of Kersten).

On 7 September 2005 the district court of The Hague judged that the party could no longer receive subsidies from the government, because women were not allowed to hold positions in the party. This was found to be a violation of the 1981 UN Treaty on Women in which the Netherlands committed to fighting discrimination. It also was a violation of the first article of the Dutch constitution, the principle of non-discrimination. The Dutch Council of State overturned the decision nevertheless, maintaining that a party’s political philosophy takes precedence, and that women have the opportunity to join other political parties where they can obtain a leadership role.[9]

Female members of the Reformed Political Party Youth (SGPJ), which does allow female membership, said however that they did not feel discriminated or repressed. During a party congress on 24 June 2006, the SGP lifted the ban on female membership. Political positions inside and outside the party are open to women. On 19 March 2014, the first female SGP delegate was elected to the Vlissingen municipal council.[10]

As a radical Protestant conservative party, the SGP draws much from its ideology from the reformed tradition, specifically the ecclesiastical doctrinal standards known as the Three Forms of Unity, including an unamended version of the Belgic Confession (Nederlandse Geloofsbelijdenis). The latter text is explicitly mentioned in the first principle of the party,[11] where it is stated that the SGP strives towards a government totally based on the Bible. This first principle also states that the uncut version of the Belgic Confession is meant, which adds the task of opposing anti-Christian powers to the description of the government’s roles and tasks.[12] The party is a strict defender of the separation between church and state,[13] rejecting “both the state church and church state”. Both church and state are believed to have distinct roles in society, while working towards the same goal, but despite this, some accuse the SGP of advocating for theocracy.[14] The SGP opposes freedom of religion, but advocates freedom of conscience instead, noting that “obedience to the law of God cannot be forced”.[15][page needed]

The SGP opposes feminism, and concludes, on Biblical grounds, that men and women are of equal value (gelijkwaardig) but not equal (gelijk).[16] Men and women, so the party claims, have different places in society. This belief led to restricting party membership to men until 2006, when this restriction became subject to controversy[17] and was eventually removed.[18][page needed] It has traditionally opposed universal suffrage, seeking to replace this with a form of “organic suffrage” (Dutch: huismanskiesrecht, “suffrage of the pater familias“) restricted to male heads of households.[19]

In controversial discussions in the Dutch House of Representatives (Tweede Kamer), the SGP often stresses the importance of the rule of law, parliamentary procedure and rules of order, regardless of ideological agreement. The party favours the re-introduction of the death penalty in the Netherlands. They base this on the Bible, specifically on Genesis 9:6, “Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man,” and Exodus 21:12, “He that smiteth a man, so that he die, shall be surely put to death.”

This is a list of representations of Reformed Political Party in the Dutch parliament, as well as the provincial, municipal and European elections. The party’s lijsttrekker has been the same as the fractievoorzitter (parliamentary group leader) of that year in every election.

The table below shows the election results of the 2011 provincial election in each province. It shows the areas where the Reformed Political Party is strong, namely in the Dutch bible belt: a band from Zeeland, via parts of South Holland and Utrecht, Gelderland to Overijssel.

5 of the 414 mayors of the Netherlands are members of the SGP,[22] and the party participates in several local executives, usually in municipalities located within the Dutch Bible Belt. The party has 40 aldermen and 244 members of local legislature. In many municipalities where the SGP is weaker, it cooperates with the ChristenUnie, presenting common lists.

The highest organ of the SGP is the congress, which is formed by delegates from the municipal branches. It convenes once every year. It appoints the party board and decides the order of the Senate, House of Representatives, European Parliament candidates list and has the last say over the party program. The SGP chairman is always a minister. Since 2001 this position is ceremonial, as the general chair leads the party’s organization.

The party has 245 municipal branches and has a provincial federation in each province, except for Limburg.

The party publishes the Banner two-weekly since 1921. The scientific institute of the party is called the Guido de Brès-foundation (nl), which publishes the magazine Zicht (Sight). The youth organisation of the SGP is called the Reformed Political Party Youth (SGPJ), which with its approximately 12,000 members is the largest political youth organization in the Netherlands.[citation needed]

The SGP still has close links with several other orthodox Protestant organizations, such as several reformed churches and the newspaper Reformatorisch Dagblad. Together they form a small but strong orthodox-reformed pillar.

Until 1963 the SGP was relatively isolated in parliament. The strongly antipapal SGP refused to cooperate with Catholic People’s Party or the secularists People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) and Labour Party (PvdA). The larger Protestant Anti Revolutionary Party (ARP) had some sympathy for the party, but cooperated tightly with the KVP and the Protestant Christian Historical Union (CHU). In 1963 another orthodox Protestant party, the Reformed Political League (GPV) entered parliament, in 1981 they were joined by the Reformatory Political Federation (RPF). Together these three parties formed the “Small Christian parties”. They shared the same orthodox Protestant political ideals and had the same political strategy, as testimonial parties. They cooperated in municipalities, both in municipal executives, where the parties were strong, as well as in common municipal parties, where the parties were weak. In the 1984 European Parliamentary election the parties presented a common list and they won one seat in parliament. After 1993 the cooperation between the GPV and the RPF intensified, but the SGP’s position at the time on female suffrage prevented the SGP joining this closer cooperation. However, in 2000 the GPV and RPF merged to form the ChristianUnion (CU). Traditionally the SGP and the CU worked together closely as they were both based on Protestant Christian politics. Recently however, as the CU has moved more towards the centre-left,[citation needed] discernible differences of philosophy between the SGP and CU have caused the parties to not join together in elections. The most notable example was the 2011 senate election where the SGP and CU did not combine their votes.[24]

Prime Minister Mark Rutte‘s first government depended on the SGP’s support in the Senate to pass legislation where it fell one seat short of a majority in the 2011 provincial elections.[25] As a result, the party was able to achieve a number of its own political objectives: continuing child support for larger families,[26] and restricting business hours on Sundays.[27]